Pac-12 | Volleyball power rankings for week eight

Is the Pac-12 title chase now a three-way race?

• next: #7 Stanford @ #6 Washington | 4:30PM |October 20

With the fourth week of conference play now underway (Washington defeated Cal Wednesday night,) the Pac-12 race is showing signs of becoming a 3-way race.

Washington's Kaleigh Nelson (6) attacks line in Sunday's 3-0 sweep of Arizona State
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

The six matches between USC, Washington and Stanford are always dynamite, never more so than what could be in store this season. Only one of those matches has already been played; the second is this Sunday in Seattle. The lineup:

Oct 4	@ USC def. Stanford 3-1
Oct 20	Stanford @ Washington
Oct 27	Washington @ USC
Oct 30	USC @ Stanford
Nov 15	USC @ Washington
Nov 20	Washington @ Stanford

Stanford @ Washington is clearly the biggest conference match this week. One big question will be whether the unusual start time—Sunday at 4:30PM—will damper what is traditionally one of the largest Huskies’ home crowds of the season. The other notable match could be USC @ Arizona State.

WEEK EIGHT PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS …

		CONF	ALL
1	USC	6-0	16-1	Trojans looked like the nation’s top team as they swept the Oregon schools; can either Arizona team dent SC’s armor?
2	Washington	6-1	14-1	Huskies now 3-0 at home after smart win against enigmatic Cal; Stanford on Sunday will be biggest test so far
3	Stanford	5-1	12-3	Cards’ only three losses are to the #1, #2 & #3 teams in the nation (USC, Fla, Tex). Can they prevail against #6 UW?
4	Arizona	3-3	11-4	‘Cats put up a good fight in Seattle, then get an Evergreen split in Pullman … but barely. LA schools are next and UCLA is desperate.
5	Utah	3-3	14-4	Utes recover nicely from Stanford shellacking to earn first conference road win of the season at Cal. Can they beat Ducks?
6	California	3-4	10-6	Bears suffer brutal home loss to Utah, then miss a week of class to lose @ UW and sightsee in the NW (WSU match not ‘til Sat PM)
7	Colorado	3-3	11-5	Buffs were 3-1 at home, then lost 2 straight in the Bay Area. Can they get a road win in the Willamette Valley?
8	Oregon	3-3	10-6	Ducks recovered from early Bruins trouble, but were outclassed by SC. No longer among elite without another pin hitter.
9	Arizona St	2-4	13-5	Disastrous week in Washington, especially the loss at WSU. Once a contender, trying now not to be pretenders.
10	Washington St	2-4	14-3	Cougs would love to replay the Ariz 5th set … just a few unforced errors away from what could have been a big home sweep.
11	UCLA	1-5	10-6	Bruins finally get a conference win, but it takes five to beat Beavs. A split in the desert may not be enough to save season.
12	Oregon St	0-6	9-8	Beavers battle, that’s for sure. Someone will lose to this team; might it be either Utah or Colorado?

And for those of you keeping tabs of the all-important road wins/home losses:

	ROAD WINS			HOME LOSSES
Washington	3		Washington	0
USC	3		USC	0
Stanford	2		Stanford	0
Oregon	2		Colorado	0
California	1		Arizona	0
Washington St	1		Arizona St	1
Utah	1		California	2
Arizona	1		Washington St	2
UCLA	1		Oregon	2
Arizona St	0		Utah	2
Colorado	0		UCLA	2
Oregon St	0		Oregon St	4

See also: What we learned from Washington volleyball’s win against California

NOTES:

• Despite hitting just .062, #10 Minnesota sent #5 Michigan State to only its second loss of the season Thursday night, and its first conference loss in the Big Ten. The score in Minneapolis was 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 15-17) in a match that featured 32 hitting errors by Minnesota, and 40 by Michigan State. The Spartans were particularly hurt by their 15 service errors, many at crucial moments.